Watercolour of Buckingham House's East Library

The Libraries of George III

George III was a keen bibliophile

LOUIS-JEAN-MARIE DAUBENTON (1716–1800)

Instruction pour les bergers et pour les proprietaires de troupeaux / by Louis Jean Marie Daubenton.

1782

21.0 x 2.9 x 13.5 cm (book measurement (inventory)) | RCIN 1055595

One of George III's innovations at his estates was the introduction of a flock of Merino sheep. This guide to the good management of Merino flocks was originally in the library of Sir Joseph Banks and it bears his book stamp on the verso of the title page. Banks procured a flock of Merino sheep for George III’s farms and it may have been around this time that the book entered the king’s personal collection, perhaps as a gift from Banks to help him manage his newly acquired flock.


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